Mom: Caretaker, chief, teacher and friend. They put countless smiles on our faces, wipe countless tears from our cheeks, and spend countless days as our closest confidantes. Mother’s Day is right around the corner (May 10th). We want to hear your favorite memories of your mother or motherly figures.

My favorite memory of my mother is one that I feel encompasses the selfless, strong woman that she is for me and my six younger siblings every day. It was during our Christmas Eve tradition, where my family, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents all gather at my home and make tamales from scratch. This story takes place about five years ago, during the major power outages in this area. I have vivid memories of my mom slaving away in the kitchen, lit by a few candles and headlamps, helping each member of my family in their tamale-making tasks. She was quite pregnant with my sister at the time, but she never let that nor the lack of power stop her from an intense effort to make a perfect evening come together. She melted snow for water, cooked on camp stoves, and smiled through the whole thing, to put a whopping 200 tamales and Christmas Eve dinner on our dimly lit dining room table. To this day, this remains my favorite Christmas and my favorite memory of her.

Share a story or a memory of your own with the editor at [email protected] or Editor Deer Park Gazette, PO Box 1581, Deer Park, WA 99006.